Method of preparing motion-picture titles



Dec. 8, 1925. Y 1564.291

L. H. STANFORD UETHOD 0F PREPARING MOTION PICTURE TITLES Filed oct. 2e', 1922 A gwusmtoz Leid/,mf fija/W@ Patented Dec- 8., 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

METHOD F PREPARING- MOTION-PICTURE TITLES.

Application filed October 2B, 1922. Serial No. 597,574.

To all lwhom t may concern.' Be it known that I, LELAND citizen of the United States, residing .i at Okmulgee, in the county of Okmulgee and 5 Sta-te of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Preparing Motion-Picture Titles, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved 1 method of arresting the `movements of a motion picture by the introduction into the film of an insert prepared from a frame of' the film, a particular object being to enable a person making a film to prolong 1| for any desired length of vtime the poseand Scene presented by any frame `of the film. An object of this invention is to provide means of emphasizing certain frames by repeating them in the print as many times l 2 as is desired. This feature is of particular value in educational films as will be understood.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a suitable process for the prepara. N tion of a title or subtitle from a frame of the scene that the title is to introduce, thus enabling the presentation of a title that has approximately the density of the scene that it introduces,` therebyminimizing optical strain and fatigue. This enables the presentation of a titlethat prepares the audience for the scene that is to follow by acquaint-ing the spectator with the setting of the scene and the initial Vposition of the characters.

A further object is to for the preparation o a -title or a subtitle from a frame of they scene showing several persons4 or objects, and with lettering indicating exactly tothe audience the 40 persons or objects to which it isdesired to 'draw attention, this feature being tof particular value in topical films.

The conventional practice in preparin titles is to hotograph the title card, whic may be a rawing, photograph, or lettered card. The proposed process varies from this practice in that the title card is an enlar' ement from the first frame of the scene t at the title is intended to precede and introduce 5 and the picture of the title is in re ister with the 4picture of the scene that fo ows H. STANFoRm fprovide a process it. The making of an insert, as distinguished from the title, from a frame of motion picture film possesses advantageous features novel over the present art.

It is therefore proposed to provide such a method consisting generally of the following steps: the enlarging of the frame of mot-ion picture film; the execution upon this enlargement of such lettering or marking as it may be desired to introduce; the reglstering u and focusing of this enlargement, with or without lettering as the ease may be, on the iilm in the camera so that the relation of the objects in the image of the enlargement will have the same relation to the perforations of the film in the camera as do those in the frame from which lthe enlargement was made; the copying from the enlargement onto as many frames of film as it is desired to take; the finishing of the film on which the copy is made; and the splicing of tle copy into the original film or a duplicate o it.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, there is ydisclosed a speciflcembodiment of my invention. as ilthat shows clearlywhether it be execu on a background that'is light, neutral, or

.dark in tone.

Figure 5 isla diagrammatical illustration of the arrangement of the apparatus for copying the enlargement onto a motion picture i Referring more particularly 'to the drawings, the source of li ht is lndicated at A and consists'of an i uminant of euitable l type andan opticalsystem of suitable type 55 lines also shows well.

vof the image on l methods of present for concentrating the light rays uniformly over the frame of the film 6. A screen ,B is arranged to shut ofi1 extraneous light from the easel E and to limit the light reaching the easel E, to those rays passing through the lens D. Bellows C, or other suitable apparatus is provided for permitting the position ofthe lens D, to be shifted with relation to the frame of the film 6, and the easel E, without admitting extraneous light to the easel E. An enlarging lens D is so mounted as to permit of focusing and the necessary adjustments, as in the conventional type of cameras for enlarging purposes, and is fitted with an adjustable diaphragm.

The enlarging easel E is adjustable for alignment and siz-e of the picture and has attached thereto' photographic paper on which the enlargement is made. The further steps in the enlarging are the locating of the screen for size of the enlargement; alignment of the film, lens, and easel to avoid distortion the screen; focusing on the down the lens for definithe finishing of the easel and stopping tion; the exposure; and enlargement. In actual practice it is found that nine inches by twelve inches is a suitable size for the enlargement, but-other convenient sizes may be used if desired. Other factors. of the steps in the proposed method just described are identical with the present commercial practice in enlarging and therefore' it is considered unncessary 4to dwell in further detail relative to them in addition to the novel steps above described.

When it is' desired that lettering o r other designations shall appear in the finished film. they are drawn in accordance with the commercial practicein drafting, using. however. inks or pigments, the tones of which present strong contrasts with the tones of that part of the enlarge-` ment upon which the lettering is to appear.

When the tones of the enlargement are neutral and when the tones quickly shift between light and dark. as is freouently the case. it is found that the style of lettering shown in Figure 4 will show clearly. In this lettering the body of the characters is executed with a dark pigment or a light pigment and is surrounded by a line made Y exactly coincides with a pigmentI or ink that is in the former case when light. and in the latter, dark. Lettering made up of alternate 'dark and light All art work on the enlargement mustbe kept welljwithin the' limits of the frame, as appearing on the enlargement. After such preliminary work, as is desired is done, the enlargement is mounted on the copying easel G, as shown in Figure 5, andthe easel is placed with the enlargement before the motion picture camera F, in such a wav that the frame of the enlargement with the aperture of the -prior art but camera. If the camera used yfor copying is not the same as the one used for taking the original picture, the film from Vwhich the enlargement was made is placed inverted andin frame, with the emulsion sidetoward the lens, in the film channel of the camera, and the enlargement is shifted about until exact register is obtained between the imageof the enlargement on the film in the camera and lthe objects on the frame of the film that is in the camera. Employing the methods of the present commercial practice in the making of titles, the next step is .to shoot th-e desired footage and finish it.

The enlargement 1 having been made from the frame 2 of the film 5, the negative is cut at the frame line 3 orl at the frame line 4 and the strip -of film copied from the enlargement, or as much of it as it is desired to use, is spliced in, according to thev commercial practice as an insert. The prints made from this negative will have the action arrested at the point where the insert was cut in.

A modification or variation of this method is to follow the steps as above described, except that the enlargement is made from the first frame of the scene and the copy is spliced onto the head of the scene to run as a title or subtitle.I

Another variation is, instead of enlarging from a frame of the negative, in case only l, one or a few prints are desired, to enlarge from a frame of positive print and in copying to shoot directly onto the positive stock placed in the camera with the emulsion side away from the lens, the other steps being substantially the same as those already described.

I am aware that it is an old and obvious expedient within the art to project with a motion picture projector of commercial type and photographing the projected picture.

However, by reference to the preceding dei scription and illustrations. it will be clearly seen' that I have not only clearly7 avoided the have provided a vastly improved and expedient method of accomplishing the desired result in a more efficient manner, such method consisting briefiv in the preparation of an enlargement and the execution of letteringk on the enlargement, and later photographing or copying same onto a'motion picture film. A

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of preparing descriptive titles in'motion picture films. consisting in the photographic reproduction o f a frame thereof. the execution of lettering on said reproduction. the production of a series of said reproductions as a-titled film7 and the introduction of said lettered frames into said film in a position directly adjacent the frame from which they were prepared.

2. The method of preparing descriptive original size, and the introduction of said titles in motion picture films, said method letteredenlargements into saidlminaposi consisting in the enlargement of a frame of tion directly preceding the frame rox l0 said film, the execution of lettering on said whch said enlargements were prepared.

5 enlargement, the reproduction of-a series In testimony whereof I ax my' signae of said lettered enlargements, the reduction ture. A of said ylettered enlargements to their LELAND H. STANFORD. 

